Lymphedema is the accumulation of excessive lymph fluid and swelling of subcutaneous tissues due to the obstruction or destruction of lymph vessels. In breast cancer patients, lymphedema occurs in the arm and results in painful swelling. Excessive fluid accumulation, referred to as edema, can also arise in the arms, legs and, trunk from a variety of other causes, including infection, radiation therapy, and other conditions which result in damage to or destruction of portions of the lymphatic and/or venous system.
Sleeve devices have been previously used to apply pressure at various locations along the length of an arm, for example, to relieve swelling due to lymphedema and other causes. Such sleeves have a plurality of laterally extending strap elements which can be tightened to exert pressure points or lines against the skin to permit the release and flow back of fluid to the remaining healthy lymph nodes. Such a device and method of use are disclosed in co-pending application U.S. application Ser. No. 08/390,866. While such devices are effective, they incur some difficulty in use because they provide no way to measure the hardness or softness of the arm, and they provide no way of determining how much pressure should be or is applied to the limb being treated. One of the problems in this area of medicine is to measure how soft or hard the arm is. Is there a lot of fluid that is easily displaced, or is the tissue hard and fibrotic? Understanding this helps us guide therapy. Different treatments are used if the tissue is soft or hard. The soft, fluid filled edema is called pitting edema. In pitting edema, application of pressure with a finger, for example, will cause the fluid to move away from the area where the pressure is applied and will leave an impression of the finger, or a pit. After the pressure is removed, the impression of the finger will remain for some time. In other conditions there is no pitting, the tissue is hard and fibrotic and no pit is left in the skin after the application of pressure with a finger.
It is therefore a principal object of this invention to provide a method of determining the hardness or softness of the limb being treated.
A further object of the invention is to provide a method of determining the amount of pressure to be applied to the limb being treated.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a sleeve apparatus that will permit predetermined pressure to be applied to spaced apart areas of the limb being treated.
These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.